A Little Bit Broken

This is a pic of Grumpy in his hospital attire after a few hours spent in the emergency room. Trimming tall bushes can be hazardous to your health. The trimming technique was to stand in the bed of the truck and trim the tall trees and bushes along the driveway on the east side. It was a good plan. (Especially since ladders aren't such a good idea for Grumpy either.) Papa was in the truck and only moved the truck when Grumpy was through with the section and had tapped the top of the truck that he was ready to move. Not having heard a tap for awhile, Papa turned to look and alas…no Grumpy. He opened the door and got out as he could hear a weird gasping noise to find Grumpy in a heap on the driveway behind the truck struggling to breathe. Apparently Grumpy thought he still had some truck bed left and stepped one step too far as he came to the end of his section. Completely knocked the wind out of him when he landed on his side and bent the trimmer to boot. He was trying to get some air back in his lungs when Papa came around the back of the truck to find him. After he could stand up, he came in the house and went to lie down in the lounge chair. He was pretty sure he had broken some ribs. The worst thing of all was of course telling me. I don't react well to people I care about getting hurt. Especially when it seems so preventable. Realizing accidents do indeed happen, I am not the nicest, most sympathetic person in the world. I hate it when he is hurt, and he knows that.

After taking it easy the rest of the day he was feeling pretty good by Sunday morning. Went to church, taught his class, we made dinner and ate and went to our evening class for the young perspective missionaries. When we got back from class Sunday evening, he made a serious mistake and sneezed. Those of you who know Grumpy well know that sneezing is not just a normal thing for him. It involves his whole body and is actually very violent. (Broken nose from football, etc.) After the sneeze, all is not well. He can't move, he can't breathe, he can barely talk and is close to tears. Robert says, “Mom, I think you better take him in to the ER.” One look at him, and I agree. Robert went to help him into the truck and I go get a book to read and my purse.

After a couple of hours we are assured that no lungs or other important organs are punctured and the grin and bear it part of recovery is at hand. Upon returning home he is hungry and wants a piece of Tawna's german chocolate cake. He sat down to eat and was doing pretty well. I went to grab the camera for this rare shot of Grumpy in a hospital gown eating a piece of cake. (Full well intending to blog about it) Robert, or Jade said something, I said something back, we started laughing and this next shot is of Grumpy as he couldn't help laughing. It was a horrible thing to watch. He was hurting so bad as he tried not to laugh, and of course all we could do was laugh. I pulled a really straight face and said “Okay, no more laughing!” We all cracked up then and had to leave the room. We left him in the kitchen struggling with the pain of laughter and a delicious piece of chocolate cake. Poor Grumpy. Bad family, Bad.